Tiny Davidson County homes provide lakefront property for some

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DAVIDSON COUNTY, N.C. -- A Davidson County community says it has found a way to give the average person a chance to own what for a lot of people is a luxury.

“We like to say we were tiny when tiny wasn’t cool,” said Beth Livingston, a developer at Coral Sands Point Recreational Village.

The tiny house community for vacation homes has been at High Rock Lake since 2008.

“Although they are technically RVs they look like little cabins and they are restricted to 400 square feet,” Livingston said.

“It allows the average guy to be able to own waterfront property,” she added.

Over the years, a rough economy caused sales to stall -- until recently.

The popularity and growth of the tiny house movement caused people to take notice of what has been happening for years in Davidson County.

Although the homes cannot be used as a primary address, tiny house enthusiasts are learning from the development’s model.

“One thing we can help people with is how to establish a community,” Livingston said.

John Williams and Kelly Mattocks are co-founders of Camp Tiny House of the Triad, an organization that provides a co-housing environment for people to build their own tiny houses.

They say even though excitement is great for the movement, education on zoning and building codes is critical.

“How to build a tiny house on wheels and get it inspected and certified along the way so that when you're done, you're not trying to accomplish that after the fact and finding out you can't,” Williams said.

Livingston is working with Camp Tiny House to offer a public tour of the Coral Sands Point Recreational Village and provide an education seminar on “land-condos.”